I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and device for the manufacture of hard shell gelatin capsules.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of hard shell gelatin capsules, pin bars are conventionally dipped into liquid gelatin so that the outermost ends of the pins on the bars are covered with the gelatin. The pin bars are then conveyed along a track under carefully controlled temperature and humidity conditions until the gelatin has dried. The dried gelatin is then stripped from the pins thus forming either the capsule cap or the capsule body.
A primary disadvantage of these previously known machines for manufacturing the hard shell gelatin capsules is that the gelatin dries relatively slowly, oftentimes requiring thirty minutes or more before the gelatin is sufficiently dried so that it can be stripped from the pin bar. As such, the conveyor lines for the pin bars on which the pin bars are conveyed during this drying period, are necessarily lengthy thereby increasing the overall cost of the capsule manufacturing machinery.